London 11/22-29/08

My wife and I spent a week in London recently.

London 11/22-29/08

US Airways was on time both in Albany and Philadelphia for our flights to London Heathrow.  Remember that the flights to Philly are on small jets so carry on luggage must be small or it will be gate checked.  The flight to London was on an A300 series jet with 2 aisles.  Seating was very cramped so sleeping was difficult even though the flight departed before 11PM and most of us were tired.  The food was awful (we ate before the flight at the airport), the staff was friendly and helpful and the in-flight viewing entertainment was adequate.  Bring your own headphones.  Adult beverages were expensive-$7 for wine.

Clearing customs and immigration at Heathrow was easy and swift.  Luggage retrieval took longer than usual.  We took the Heathrow Express train to Paddington Station in London.  The cost was GBP32 round-trip, per person and worth it.  This way is much easier and cheaper than a taxi, but you have to drag your luggage on your own.  Once at Paddington, we were met by our son who was living in London at the time, so he guided us to the proper Underground stop.  It was just 2 stops to our location.  It would have been difficult pulling 4 suitcases around the Underground Station, so without help a taxi would have been in order.

Our Hotel, La Place on Nottingham Place is in the Westminster part of town, not too far from Baker St. and just off Marley Bone High St. a main street for shopping and dining.  It seems like an upscale area.  While the hotel advertises itself as a 4 star B&B, it is more like a 3 star European style hotel.  No lobby or amenities to speak of, very old, well kept, small but adequate rooms.  The staff is very friendly and accommodating but not British.  The Restaurant has a great reputation and the bar, while small is open all of the time.  Our room lacked storage space, the bathroom is old but the room was adequately appointed and comfortable.  It came was a flat screen TV, wireless internet, which was difficult to access, and a hair dryer.  We liked it for convenience to our son.  Because this is a very residential part of London, I am not sure I would stay here if my goal was strictly to see the sights.  The price was reasonable-GBP137.00 per night.

Our first night we dined at Strada on Marley Bone High St.  It was gourmet Italian with very reasonable prices.  You could order a bottle of good wine for under GBP16 and dinner for GBP11.  The service was great, the food was excellent and the atmosphere was like a bistro or small NYC restaurant.  A 12.5% tip was automatically included in your bill and you must ask for your bill when you are done.  It is not automatically brought to you.

We took a pre-arranged, all-day sightseeing tour which included the major sights:  Westminster Abbey, The Tower of London, The Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Prince Charles residence, Harrods and St. Paul's Cathedral.  I encourage you to take a similar tour if you want to get familiar with London and it's sights.  We booked this tour in advance through our agency.  The cost was competitive and the sightseeing company used was first class.

Westminster Abbey is where the Queen was made Queen and is the home of many famous dead Brits.  It is literally an indoor grave yard and a must see.  The Tower of London was a great place to visit because it is old and full of history and is the home of the Royal Jewels among other things.

As we passed Prince Charles home, on foot, (another reason I liked this tour because we weren't stuck on a bus looking out a window all day) we got to see and get a wave from Camilla Bols.  She is more attractive in person.

Part of this trip included a short cruise on the Thames.  It is interesting to see London from that perspective, but not essential.  If it is part of the day tour, I would do it, but I would not do it as a stand alone tour unless river cruising interests you.

If you have the energy and stamina, take the stairs to the top of St. Paul's (the church where Princess Di was married to Prince Charles).  The stairs are the only way up.  The view is incredible.  You can see all of London.  We finished our day at 4PM having tea at Harrods.  The white glove service was excellent and the cost was part of our tour.  My wife and I grew to enjoy tea time in London.  We should carry this custom to the USA.

As part of our tour, we had a lunch stop at Walker's Pub in Trafalgar Square.  Lunch was not included and cost about $40 for 2, including a glass of wine and dessert.  Walker's is famous, so give it a try.  The food was very good, but be aware that lunch is a big meal in London.  Much more food than I am used too.

The next three days we left open to explore, in more depth, some of the places we saw on day one.  Plus, our son joined us some of the time.

We learned that you can catch the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace every other day beginning at 11AM at St. James Palace (the old palace).  If you start there, you can watch the guards as they start out and then follow the parade to Buckingham Palace, or you can line up with the crowd at Buckingham Palace and wait.  I recommend you fit this event into your itinerary.  It runs until about 1PM and is great to watch.  I won't give it all away suffice to say, it is a grand parade and spectacle. 

By the way, we took the Tube or Underground wherever we went.  We did take taxis at night after dinner when we were tired, but taxis are very expensive.  If you don't mind the tube, buy an Oyster Card and fill it as you go. The cost per ride is cheaper that way and if you don't use all of the money on your card, you can save it or ask for a refund.  The Oyster Card cost GBP3.

We had lunch at St. Stephen's Pub, near the London Bridge across the street from Parliament.  This is another ancient and famous pub which I recommend.  The cost for lunch was more in line with back home and we ordered sandwiches instead of traditional lunches, although even the sandwiches were "different."  I had a ham and potato salad sandwich.

Tip:  When eating in a pub, you must go up to the bar and make your order and pay for it, then go to your table and someone will bring you your food.  There is no tipping unless it is included in the bill.  Even when you order a drink at a bar, one does not tip the bartender.

After lunch we made a stop at St. Thomas's hospital because our son worked there and it was close by.  Socialized medicine did not diminish the quality of that facility.  It equaled any major city hospital in the US that I have seen.

We finished the day shopping on and near Regent St.  There are many stores available in this area including major department stores, brand name stores like Lacoste, The Gap, etc. and boutiques.

We kept  the next day open to do some sightseeing on our own, a little window shopping and attend a London musical.  The day before, we stopped at one of many street side theatre ticket booths.  Show tickets were discounted.  It seemed to me that many top rate shows were available at the last minute.  We ended up getting tickets for a Wednesday matinee at a cost of BGP40 per ticket.  They were balcony seats for the musical Wicked.  By the way, matinees start at 2:30PM and the evening show starts at 7:30PM.  Our theatre was across the street from Victoria Station, so taking the tube was very convenient.  If you want to include lunch on theatre day, I recommend a small Italian Restaurant on the same block as the station and the theatre called Pezza.  It will cost you about the same as lunch in the NYC Theater District.

Before the theatre, we had to go to Covent Garden to actually pick up the tickets.  You had to be there by 11AM.  I am not sure why they make you do all of that, but be prepared to make the trip.  Of course this gave us a great excuse to visit Covent Garden.  While the facility has changed in appearance since the days of Liza Doolittle (It reminds one of Quincy Market in Boston.), Covent Garden still offers many unique booths for shopping and reasonable pricing.  You can get pretty much whatever you need in this area.

After the theatre and a quick rest, we went to a great Argentinean Restaurant called Gauchos.  I believe there are three in the city.  This one was on Swallow St. near Carnaby St.  You should make a reservation because it is a popular restaurant.  While the steaks and chops, their specialty, were excellent, I was not a fan of the atmosphere.  It was very dark inside and the background music was louder than one would expect in a restaurant.  It cost a little bit more than average to dine there. 

We did take a walk along Carnaby St.  This pedestrian mall like street offers great boutiques and it is a recommended stop, especially at night.  On the corner is the department store Liberty of London.

On Thanksgiving, we decided to make it an easy day and do just one thing-visit and ride on the Eye.  The Eye is located literally in the Thames and in my opinion is not an attractive addition to the London landscape.  Having said that, it is popular.  It costs GBP15 for a 30 minute ride which gives you a fantastic view of the entire city.  I do recommend it.

On Thanksgiving, many Americans made the Texas Embassy at Trafalgar Square their stop for turkey dinner.  The restaurant is Tex-Mex style and features American beers and American sports on TVs throughout the place.  Turkey is not a common dish in London so don't expect a great turkey dinner if you find one.  The nachos were pretty good!

I recommend another great pub for lunch-The Globe.  It is on Marley Bone St. across from the Sherlock Holmes statue at Baker St.  If you go, try the sausages and potatoes.

Our last day of sightseeing and last full day in England was spent visiting Bath, Stonehenge and Salisbury.  I booked this trip before we left through our travel agency and it was competitively priced and went off without a hitch.  We used Evan Evans Tours departing from Victoria Coach Station.  The ride to the Bath area, a southwesterly direction, takes about 2 hours.  Stonehenge and Salisbury are very close by Bath.  The river Avon rolls through this area as we crossed it many times.

Bath is a beautiful old city, home to the famous Roman Baths.  It is an amazing site to see such a well kept ancient place.  The water bubbling up is green and about 98 degrees!

Stonehenge is another must see.  You only need 30 to 45 minutes there.  Rent one of the walking tour recorders.  It makes the experience more memorable.

Salisbury is home of the cathedral of the same name.  It is the tallest building in the country and was built about 800 years ago.  It is surrounded by a variety of English homes and gardens, which to see, make the trip worthwhile.  This trip lasted about 10 hours, but went by very quickly.

When we returned to London, we ate at DeMartinos on Great Portland St.  The owners are from Italy and the food was great and reasonably priced.

Christmas time is a great time to visit England because the Brits have it all over us Americans when it comes to decorating and commercializing Christmas.  They start much earlier than we do too.

Traveling home, we allowed an hour to get to Heathrow using a taxi and the Heathrow Express train, and it took a full hour.  We checked in 2 hours in advance and after the check-in line and security, we arrived at our gate just as they started boarding.  That left little time for duty free shopping, so leave enough time to get to the airport and check in.

London is a hectic place to visit, but if you plan ahead and use our travel service, you will have a great stay!